Tech Gift Ideas for your Valentine

Well, the famous (or infamous if you live in Mumbai) Valentine’s Day is around and it’s time you decided to give a gift to that special someone. However, what if your boyfriend/girlfriend is a tech maniac? What if he/she likes to stay in the latest buzz or have a new gadget to show off (and hopefully do the same for you next year)? Those murmurs of acquiescence tell me that you do have such a companion and that choosing a gift for him/her without formidably denting your wallet is quite a nuisance. Fear not! For Techie Buzz is here to save your day once again!

For the Photography Lover

No, we are not going to tell you to buy him/her a dSLR (but if you have the money to spend, go ahead!), but the Nikon Coolpix L20 is a formidable point-and-shoot camera that comes for under $100. With a lacquered plastic finish this one is a good-looking winner!

However, if your Valentine already has a decent camera and uploads and shares them online, the best way to gift him/her is by buying a premium subscription package for the service they use. Both deviantART and Flickr offer subscription gifts with messages that add an extra bit of love to the gift!

With deviantART, all you have to do is browse to the person’s profile and click on the Givebutton followed by the Give subscriptionbutton and following the on-screen instructions. With Flickr, just navigate to the gift page and buy a subscription. The person who receives it has to redeem the gift code. Simple!

For the Music Lover

While the iPod Touch would be the preferred gift idea of the rich, it will not be a gift idea from Techie Buzz. We like it when awesome things are bundled at a low price! The favored music player that is pretty cheap is the Sansa Clip from Sandisk. This David of a player laughs at the Goliaths like Apple and Samsung with its beautifully rich sound reproduction. Supporting MP3, WMA, secured WMA and Audible eBooks, this is one player that does everything in a tiny package. Best part? It’s dirt cheap at around $50 for the 4GB version. The Clip+ which supports microSD extendable memory is also around the same price. Verdict: Get the Clip+ you will not regret it!

However, if your Valentine is an Apple fan, the new 3rd Gen iPod Shuffle is quite the formidable player. With its sleek looks and beautiful array of colors and the amazing Apple sound quality to boot, this one is a sure-fire winner at $79 or less. Since I personally use this player, I would recommend it to anyone who travels via public transport. The earphone controls are a godsend even though the sound is not all that great via the headphones. However, you can get an adapter for the controls and use your own earphones if you want.

If your loved one uses last.fm quite a lot, you can even gift the last.fm radio subscription for him/her! Just click on the subscribe button and click on the For friendtab and do the rest! Or, just click here for giving the gift of a subscription.

For the Gamer

Ah, the Gamer. So many games and hardware to choose from what do you exactly buy him (mostly)/her? There is the constant fear of your Valentine saying Oh I have this gameor Aw, this game sucks!. However, knowing gamers as I do, most of the hardcore gamers truly enjoy retro games. So one of the favorite gaming devices is the GP2X Wiz. Though it is pricey, it is a godsend for retro gamers and has a touch-screen and emulators for quite a few gaming devices of yore.

As for real games, there is always a sale on Steam or Direct2Drive regarding games and you can give the gift of a game on both these websites. Good Old Games also has the option of gifting games, but the fact of the matter is that GoG.com is DRM-free completely and has amazing old games that still fail to bore you! So if your boyfriend/girlfriend likes gaming, these are the places to be!

Do tell us what you bought for your Valentine and how it was received in the comments!